Children's home run by Horizon Care Limited in Cannock Chase

Inspection report children‟s home: SC411054 1 SC411054 Registered provider: Horizon Care Limited

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is registered to provide care for two young people. It is part of a large social care company. The home provides therapeutic care for young people who may have experienced neglect, abuse or trauma.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager of the home began her role in October 2019 and is not yet registered with Ofsted.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The children’s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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requires improvement to be good

Date of last inspection: 16 January 2019

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children‟s home: SC411054 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

16/01/2019 Full Good 16/01/2018 Full Good 02/03/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 07/12/2016 Full Good Inspection report children‟s home: SC411054 3

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person(s) must take to meet the Care Standards Act 2000, Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the ‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’. The registered person(s) must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

The education standard is that children make measurable progress towards achieving their educational potential and are helped to do so.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— that staff—

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Requirement Due date

help each child to achieve the child’s education and training targets, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

support each child’s learning and development, including helping the child to develop independent study skills and, where appropriate, helping the child to complete independent study;

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Requirement Due date

understand the barriers to learning that each child may face and take appropriate action to help the child to overcome any such barriers;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand the importance and value of education, learning, training and employment;

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Requirement Due date

promote opportunities for each child to learn informally;

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Requirement Due date

maintain regular contact with each child’s education and training provider, including engaging with the provider and the placing authority to support the child’s education and training and to maximise the child’s achievement;

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Requirement Due date

raise any need for further assessment or specialist provision in relation to a child with the child’s education or training provider and the child’s placing authority;

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Requirement Due date

help a child who is excluded from school, or who is of compulsory school age but not attending school, to access educational and training support throughout the period of 20/03/2020 Inspection report children‟s home: SC411054 4 exclusion or non-attendance and to return to school as soon as possible;

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Requirement Due date

help each child who is above compulsory school age to participate in further education, training or employment and to prepare for future care, education or employment;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to attend education or training in accordance with the expectations in the child’s relevant plans; and

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Requirement Due date

that each child has access to appropriate equipment, facilities and resources to support the child’s learning. (Regulation 8 (1)(2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(viii)(ix)(x)(b)) The enjoyment and achievement standard is that children take part in and benefit from a variety of activities that meet their needs and develop and reflect their creative, cultural, intellectual, physical and social interests and skills.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— that staff help each child to— develop the child’s interests and hobbies;

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Requirement Due date

participate in activities that the child enjoys and which meet and expand the child’s interests and preferences; and

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Requirement Due date

make a positive contribution to the home and the wider community; and

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Requirement Due date

that each child has access to a range of activities that enable the child to pursue the child’s interests and hobbies. (Regulation 9 (1)(2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(b)) 20/03/2020

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Requirement Due date

The health and well-being standard is that—

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Requirement Due date

the health and well-being needs of children are met;

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Requirement Due date

children receive advice, services and support in relation to their health and well-being; and

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Requirement Due date

children are helped to lead healthy lifestyles.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

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Requirement Due date

that each child is registered as a patient with a general medical practitioner and a registered dental practitioner; and 20/03/2020 Inspection report children‟s home: SC411054 5 that each child has access to such dental, medical, nursing, psychiatric and psychological advice, treatment and other services as the child may require. (Regulation 10 (1)(a)(b)(c)(2)(b)(c)) If the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005(a) applies to the home—

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Requirement Due date

the registered person must ensure that the requirements of that Order and any regulations made under it, except for article 23 (duties of employees), are complied with in respect of the home. (Regulation 25 (2)(b)) 14/02/2020

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that an independent person visits the children’s home at least once each month.

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Requirement Due date

When the independent person is carrying out a visit, the registered person must help the independent person—

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Requirement Due date

if they consent, to interview in private such of the children, their parents, relatives and persons working at the home as the independent person requires; and

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Requirement Due date

to inspect the premises of the home and such of the home’s records (except for a child’s case records, unless the child and the child’s placing authority consent) as the independent person requires.

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Requirement Due date

A visit by the independent person to the home may be unannounced.

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Requirement Due date

The independent person must produce a report about a visit (“the independent person’s report”) which sets out, in particular, the independent person’s opinion as to whether—

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Requirement Due date

children are effectively safeguarded; and

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Requirement Due date

the conduct of the home promotes children’s well-being.

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Requirement Due date

The independent person’s report may recommend actions that the registered person may take in relation to the home and timescales within which the registered person must consider whether or not to take those actions. (Regulation 44 (1)(2)(a)(b)(3)(4)(a)(b)(5) 21/02/2020

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must review the appropriateness and suitability of the location of the premises used for the purposes of the children’s home at least once in each calendar year taking into account the requirement in regulation 12 (2)(c) (the protection of children standard). 28/02/2020 Inspection report children‟s home: SC411054 6 When conducting the review, the registered person must consult, and take into account the views of, each relevant person. (Regulation 46 (1)(2))

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Recommendations

 The information set out in the Statement of Purpose is an essential part of the process of agreement between the registered person and placing authority that a placement in that home is the right one for that child, and that the home will be able to respond effectively to the child’s assessed needs. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.6)

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improvement to be good

The experiences of young people living at the home since the last inspection are mixed. Both young people have lived in the home for several years. One is settled and making excellent progress at school and in all other aspects of life. The other has withdrawn, and staff find it increasingly difficult to engage with him.

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improvement to be good

Since the last inspection, this young person has disengaged from learning and is currently not in education, employment or training. This is despite the best efforts of staff at the home, who have worked hard to identify suitable education and training options.

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improvement to be good

The young person has gradually withdrawn from any interests and hobbles too. Staff encourage him to become involved in activities in the house, but he mostly chooses to spend his time playing video games. This limitation on education and activities is restricting for the young person who spends increasing time in his bedroom.

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improvement to be good

Staff support both young people in maintaining their health. One has made good progress in an area of his health. He has developed the skills, knowledge and understanding to manage this health need. He does this with minimal input from staff. The other young person has had a great deal of work and effort to help him reduce or stop smoking. No progress has been made, which is detrimental to the young person’s physical well-being.

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improvement to be good

Staff support both young people in seeing their friends and families. This often involves travelling long distances to ensure that these important relationships are maintained. Young people benefit from this commitment from staff.

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improvement to be good

Staff consult young people through day-to-day conversations and targeted keywork Inspection report children‟s home: SC411054 7 sessions. Young people benefit from this inclusive approach to planning their care.

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improvement to be good

One young person smokes tobacco in his bedroom. Staff have worked with the young person to support him to stop smoking. They have involved health and safety professionals to reduce associated risks. The home’s fire risk assessment states that there is strictly no smoking on the premises. Despite persistent efforts of staff, they have been unable to enforce this. This leaves young people and staff at risk. A referral was made to the fire service following this inspection by Ofsted.

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improvement to be good

The home is in a busy town. The home’s location risk assessment considers some risks in the local area. However, the mitigation of risk is not sufficiently detailed. Local risks posed by busy roads, waterways and gangs are not considered. Therefore, the assessment of local risks to young people is ineffective.

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improvement to be good

Staff are therapeutically minded and skilled at de-escalating any difficult and unwanted behaviours. This means there have been no sanctions and no physical interventions since the last inspection.

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improvement to be good

There is a well-embedded missing from home policy, and staff will follow young people if they leave the home without permission. This is rare, and young people return to the home with staff. There have been no occasions when a young person has been reported missing since the last inspection.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The manager is new to the role and has the skills and experience to manage the home effectively. The manager has recently enrolled on the relevant level 5 diploma. She is supported by a dedicated and mostly qualified staff team that advocates well on behalf of the young people and cares about their well-being.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

An independent visitor completes monthly visits to the home. The visitor does not solicit the opinions of family members and only occasionally the views of professionals. Visits often happen during school time. The manager is often the only member of staff who the visitor speaks to. This does not provide comprehensive monitoring of the conduct of the home to inform the provider, the placing authority and the regulator.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The home’s statement of purpose does not give an accurate account of the services the home provides. This could be misleading for families or placing local authorities that are looking for a suitable placement for a child or young person.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Staff receive training to support them in their roles. The manager ensures that all the staff receive regular, practice-led supervisions and appraisals in line with organisational Inspection report children‟s home: SC411054 8 policy.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Feedback from external professionals and family members was positive. They spoke about the strong relationships between staff and young people. One professional said, ‘The staff are super. They attend all professionals’ meetings and are great advocates. They are quick to respond and take onboard advice and are proactive in getting things done.’

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people. Inspectors considered the quality of work and the differences made to the lives of children and young people. They watched how professional staff work with children and young people and each other and discussed the effectiveness of help and care provided. Wherever possible, they talked to children and young people and their families. In addition, the inspectors have tried to understand what the children’s home knows about how well it is performing, how well it is doing and what difference it is making for the children and young people whom it is trying to help, protect and look after.

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Information about this inspection

Using the ‘Social care common inspection framework’, this inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000 to assess the effectiveness of the service, how it meets the core functions of the service as set out in legislation, and to consider how well it complies with the Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the ‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’. Inspection report children‟s home: SC411054 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Horizon Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Venture House, 12 Prospect Business Park, Longford Road, Cannock, Staffordshire WS11 0LG

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Inspector

Ricky D’Arcy, social care inspector Inspection report children‟s home: SC411054 10 achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children’s social care and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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